fun with bubble algae

tonyespinoza

Premium Member
so i'm switching tanks and wondering if i should cook the rock that has bubble algae on it, or if there's any other way to get rid of the stuff... it's proliferated quite a bit in the last month as i've been focused on my new system... any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
by the way the new tank that the softies are going in has a much bigger skimmer. (i've always run GFO on the tank... maybe it got saturated.)
 
from what i heard about bubble aglae. you need either to scrub it all of in a separate tank. take the rock out of that tank. put it in another separate holding tank and let it rinse off incase any of the spores are still on it. watch the rock for a day or so and make sure no more is forming. THAN when you feel safe put it back into the display
 
OR get an emerald crab army. btw, dont take what i am saying as 100% truth. i may be way off. id recommend waiting for others to chime in. if anything else.. ill spark some people to come in here and yell at me for giving such horrible info. :D Good luck
 
cool bryan - thanks.

anyone else had good luck with emerald crabs? these bubbles are clustered together and they're not round. it's not the standard dark green perfect sphere type...

wonder if a naso might eat it...
 
if they are the type that are together imo they are easier to deal with
yank the rock out put in a bucket and pop the whole bubble colony off the rock do a quick scrub with a toothbrush where it was and you shoul be good
i did this when moving tanks hasnt showed back up
although it was just on 2 rocks
 
When I do a water change I have put the rock with the bubble algae on it. In the old water.

Then I pull it off and shake the rock in the water a little.

Then return it to the display. This works for me.
 
Toothbrush and magnifying glass. Bought a coral from LFS, got it home to acclimate and examined with magnifying glass and found bubble algae. Took off all that I could, then took the magnifying glass and tooth-brushed anything else that was left. Never infected my display.
 
As far as emerald crabs go, some have luck, some don't. I have had 5 over time and haven't seen one of them ever going after the bubble algae.
 
Skip the Emerald Crab. I put one, just one, in my 55g and it starved to death before it ate the bubble algae.
 
Assuming your tank is big enough, a rabbitfish might work. I have had three and they all ate bubble algae pretty well. But then again, its not guaranteed that any herbivore will have a taste for a particular algae.
 
thanks so much for all the thoughts... i will get to work with my toothbrush when i move this time. i know where it came from --- a piece i got from the LFS...

i'll also look into a rabbitfish!
 
My tank was covered in them. I put an emerald in and within a month they are mostly gone. I also did small water changes more often which seem to help. Its a hit or miss with them.
 
I have a few on two of my LR and they don't seem to be spreading at all. I haven't bothered to remove them since they aren't spreading, but my luck might change once I write this.
 
I have a one spot foxface, 5 or 6 emeralds and I still have bubble algae. I got them both for the bubbles, never seen either go after it. The foxface eats all other algae and is a very peacefull fish.
When it gets bad I take the rock out a scrub it.
It's getting harder to do as the coral grows.

I HATE bubble algae!
 
I have to agree on the rabbitfish also. I've got a Foxface that I wouldn't take anything for! He loves bubble algae. I take bubble infested rocks out of my Nano and put it in the 75 for him to clean up for me. He's always more than happy to do the job.:D
 
I don't think they have a reputation for being skittish at all. I know mine dive for the rockwork if they get frightened, rather than looking to bail out of the tank.
 
awesome. anyone had the "magnificent fox face" ? man that one is pricey! any other info on the various kinds and their personalities, would be great to know...
 
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